Skid Row
| Skid Row | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 Skid Row Live, 1989 |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Hard rock , hair metal , sleaze rock |
| founding | 1987, 1999 |
| resolution | 1996 |
| Website | www.skidrow.com |
| Current occupation | |
singing |
ZP Theart (since 2017) |
| Dave "Snake" Sabo | |
guitar |
Scott Hill |
| Rachel Bolan | |
| Rob Hammersmith (since 2010) | |
| former members | |
| Matt Fallon (1987) | |
singing |
Sebastian Bach (1988–1996) |
singing |
Sean McCabe (1998) |
singing |
Johnny Solinger (1999-2015) |
singing |
Tony Harnell (2015) |
Drums |
Rob Affuso (1987-1996) |
Drums |
Charlie Mills (1999-2001) |
Drums |
Phil Varone (2001-2003) |
Drums |
Dave Gara (2003-2010) |
Skid Row is an American hard rock / hair metal band from New Jersey . The band celebrated their greatest successes in the late 1980s / early 1990s. Her debut album Skid Row sold over five million copies in the United States.
history
The early years
Skid Row was founded in the mid-1980s by guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo and bassist Rachel Bolan. The American expression "Skid Row" describes the poor ghetto of American cities. Sabo grew up in the neighborhood of Jon Bon Jovi and played with him in various bands before he founded Bon Jovi in 1984 . The line-up of Skid Row was supplemented with the second guitarist Scotti Hill and drummer Rob Affuso, and the band was looking for a suitable singer. John Corabi (later Mötley Crüe, among others ) turned down the band's offer, and Robert Mason (later Lynch Mob ) and Richard Black were not accepted into the band.
Former anthrax singer Matt Fallon eventually became the first singer on Skid Row, but it wasn't long before he had to leave. A Canadian named Sebastian Bierk, who performed under the stage name Sebastian Bach and sang in a troupe called Madame X, caught the band's attention at a wedding. Bach sang as a guest in an all-star band that consisted of the Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde , the twisted sister singer Dee Snider and the quiet riot frontman Kevin DuBrow. Skid Row were so convinced by Bach to him for 200,000 dollars freely bought from a contract with his former manager. The money came from Snake's friend Jon Bon Jovi, who then took the band under his wing.
Bon Jovi put in contact with McGhee entertainment management, which included the band in their artist repertoire. Skid Row eventually signed a record deal with Atlantic and a publishing deal with Bon Jovi's newly formed Underground Music Company. The band later regretted the latter, as all release royalties went to Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora . Skid Row recorded their debut album with producer Michael Wagener , it was released in 1989.
The successful years
Even before the album was in stores, Skid Row had already been confirmed as opening act for Bon Jovi's 1989 US tour. In August 1989 they also played at the Moscow Music Peace Festival alongside bands such as Bon Jovi , Ozzy Osbourne , Mötley Crüe , the Scorpions and Cinderella . The band performed alongside Bon Jovi, Europe and Vixen at the Milton Keynes Festival and toured Europe with Mötley Crüe and White Lion and then with Aerosmith , before Skid Row toured the United States again.
Both the album and the three singles Youth Gone Wild , 18 and Life and I Remember You were very successful. The album and the last two singles - two ballads - each made the top ten in the US. As their success grew, so did the realization that the publishing deal they had signed with Bon Jovi had turned out to be very much to their disadvantage. After a mud fight that was widely trodden in the media, Richie Sambora finally returned his 50% of the royalties to the band. At the end of the tour, Skid Row are among the top acts of the rock scene and have an album that has been awarded five times platinum .
The second album Slave to the Grind , released in the summer of 1991, went straight to number 1 in the US charts, although the musical direction had become much harder and less commercial than its predecessor. It sold over two million times. As early as May, the band toured the United States as a support act for Guns N 'Roses . The resulting friendship resulted in Bach, Affuso and Sabo being heard on Duff McKagan's solo album Believe in Me . Skid Row also accompanied Guns N 'Roses in Europe, where there was a scandal at the Wembley Arena in London: Bach read a written edition on stage that forbade the band from playing their song Get the Fuck Out as well otherwise somehow using the word “fuck” on stage. Of course, the band played the song and also invited the audience to "Get the Fuck Out" chants. Skid Row were then banned from appearing in this stadium for life by Brent Council .
This is followed by a South American tour with the Scorpions and an appearance at the legendary Monsters of Rock Festival in August 1992, together with The Almighty , Slayer , WASP , Thunder and the headliners Iron Maiden . A tour through Japan and another US tour as a headliner through America with Pantera as the support band ended a 20-month world tour. In 1992, the cover EP B-Sides Ourselves was released , then the band set to work on the successor Subhuman Race .
In the meantime, public tastes had changed with the advent of grunge , which put groups like Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe and Skid Row under pressure. The band tried to adapt, went a step further and released a tough, raw album. However, despite positive reviews, Subhuman Race was unable to build on the success of its two predecessors. Nevertheless, the album was represented in the charts in several countries. However, the band had already quarreled internally when recording Subhuman Race , as there had been conflicts between Bach and the other musicians. The break finally came in 1996, and Skid Row parted ways shortly after the release of their Greatest Hits album, 40 Seasons .
Bach formed a solo band, while the remaining musicians started a new project called Ozone Monday with singer Sean McCabe, but with which they did not play skid row songs. After finishing this project, Bolan and Sabo wanted to continue with Skid Row, but without singer Bach. Then drummer Rob Affuso left the band, because he only wanted to continue Skid Row with Sebastian Bach as a singer. So Skid Row returned in 1999 with founding members Rachel Bolan, Snake Sabo and Scotti Hill as well as with drummer Phill Varone and singer Johnny Solinger and toured the USA as the opening act for Kiss and Ted Nugent .
Skid Row from 2000
The album ThickSkin - with the new singer Johnny Solinger and Phil Varone from Saigon Kick on drums - was released in 2003. The album is more punk and earthier than the albums with Sebastian Bach, which is partly due to the rocking and, compared to Bach, not very glamorous voice Solingers lies. The world hit of the band I remember you was re-recorded as I remember you two in a punk version. Like the first albums, Thickskin contains both straight songs with Skid Row typical, distinctive guitar riffs, as well as ballads. Nevertheless it was not very successful, it could not place in the charts, only in Japan it reached number 111. A European tour as the opening act for Def Leppard followed as well as a US tour with Poison and Vince Neil , before Varone was replaced by Dave Gara . The band turned down several million dollar offers for a reunion with Sebastian Bach . In May 2005 the band played together with Quiet Riot on American military bases in South Korea . The band spent 2006 recording a new album as well as giving concerts on the American continent.
Revolutions per Minute is the title of the second album with Solinger as the singer. The record was released by SPV in October 2006 . The album is even more punk than ThickSkin . As the band's first album, it does not contain a ballad, but instead contains some pure punk songs. The album was, like the previous album, not very successful; it never reached the top 200 charts in any country, the closest Revolution per Minute came to the top 200 in Japan, where it reached number 226. In November the band toured Canada with King's X and Nashville Pussy . In 2011, the band separated from drummer Dave Gara, who was replaced by Rob Hammersmith.
Although Skid Row has only released two moderately successful albums since breaking up with Sebastian Bach in 1999, they have remained a sought-after live band. She continues to play on numerous tours and festivals. In 2011 Skid Row took part in the KissCruise, a five-day cruise where they performed alongside Kiss. In February 2012 the band announced that they were working on new material for a new album.
In July 2012, Sebastian Bach published an open letter on his Facebook page in which he called on the other Skid Row members to orientate themselves on the wishes of the fans. He is ready to perform again with his old band. He doesn't want it himself, but he would do it for the fans. It is "not always about what you want yourself". He knows "that four of the five former members (meaning Dave Sabo, Scotti Hill, Rob Affuso and Bach) are ready". The letter was removed on the day of publication, but had already been picked up and distributed by various editorial offices (including Rolling Stone Magazine). In 2014 the band played at the Wacken Open Air .
In April 2015, Johnny Solinger announced that he was leaving the band in order to advance his solo career. Tony Harnell (ex-TNT) was signed for him. In an interview a little later, however, Dave "Snake" Sabo and Rachel Bolan claimed to have fired Solinger. On December 29, 2015, it was announced that the band and Tony Harnell would go their separate ways after just one year. Harnell felt ignored and disrespected by the band. However, the band said they called Harnell at the hospital on December 17th to help him with health problems. The band announced that they would continue and look for a new singer. Rumors of reunion with Sebastian Bach were denied. On January 14, 2017, Skid Row announced during a gig at the Casino in Nova Scotia (Halifax, Canada) that the singer ZP Theart (who had been the singer for a year on the tour) is officially the new singer of the band . ZP Theart sang earlier in the bands Dragonforce , tank and I am I .
Discography
Studio albums
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
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| 1989 |
Skid Row Atlantic Records |
DE22 (16 weeks) DE |
- |
CH26 (1 week) CH |
UK30th  (16 weeks)UK |
US6th  × 5
(78 weeks)US |
First published:
Jan 24, 1989 Sales: + 5,499,570 |
| 1991 |
Slave to the Grind Atlantic Records |
DE12 (21 weeks) DE |
AT16 (12 weeks) AT |
CH15 (9 weeks) CH |
UK5  (9 weeks)UK |
US1 × 2
(46 weeks)US |
First published: June 11, 1991
Sales: + 1,195,000 |
| 1995 |
Subhuman Race Atlantic Records |
DE57 (7 weeks) DE |
- |
CH49 (1 week) CH |
UK8 (3 weeks) UK |
US35 (9 weeks) US |
First published: March 28, 1995
|
| 2003 | Thickskin SPV |
- | - | - | - | - |
First published: August 5, 2003
|
| 2006 | Revolutions per minute SPV |
- | - | - | - | - |
First published: October 24, 2006
|
Web links
- Official website
- Skid Row at Discogs (English)
- Full biography (English)
swell
- ↑ Sebastian Bach Issues Open Letter To Skid Row - "If You Want To Try And Get Out Of The Internet Bullshit And Come Together For The Sake Of The Fans, You Can Give Me A Call" on Bravewords.com , accessed July 13 2012
- ↑ Article on rollingstone.com , accessed July 13, 2012
- ↑ http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/singer-johnny-solinger-quits-skid-row/
- ↑ http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/skid-row-recruits-former-tnt-singer-tony-harnell/
- ↑ http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/skid-row-vows-to-continue-following-tony-harnells-departure-shoots-down-sebastian-bach-reunion-talk/
- ↑ http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/skid-row-splits-with-singer-tony-harnell/
- ↑ http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/skid-row-fired-johnny-solinger-a-few-hours-before-announcing-tony-harnell-as-his-replacement/